The Future That Could Have Been
by Pneumonia
Summary: Lucy travels back in time to warn the others of the terrible future that awaits- but what exactly was that future? "Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them spill. The roar shook the earth once more, and the sky alighted at once in a fury of flame. She strained towards the flames, attempting to see what would most likely be her demise." T for gore/character death. Oneshot.


**Alrighty, hello. Now before you all murder me for being inactive for... well... a _really_ long time, let's just say the first year of highschool is very busy, and stressful. But now with exams coming up it's finally almost at the end and I get summer to relax. Yay! Though... I am taking summer school... but forget about that.  
****Anyway in the past year and a half I managed to add anime to my number of things to read and watch, so if anyone PM's and requests an anime one shot (with a subject in mind) I will probably do it- although- be mindful to the animes I post on my profile because it will constantly be updating.  
****And now, without further ado (did I spell that right?) my first anime fanfic, from _Fairy Tail_ by _Hiro Mashima_.****  
****I do read the manga, btw, and now that the anime had restarted and caught up to the very awesome events coming up- I decided to do my own take on something that was never thoroughly mentioned. I don't think I spoil anything that happens in the manga, as this is just some drabble writing on what was never mentioned in anime _or_ manga.  
****Disclaimer: We all know this manga/anime isn't mine or else... who knows... the only thing I own are the words uttered (or in this case written) for this somewhat rushed oneshot.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

Natsu never realized he could feel cold until the icy chill set into his bones.

He would have shivered, weren't it for that his exhaustion was restricted to simply focus on taking another breath. His vision was fading, his thoughts becoming jumbled and his memories almost non-existent.

Though, there was one thing he couldn't forget.

As he lied in the wreckage of what was once the beautiful country of Magnolia, the setting sun setting long crimson shadows across everything in his current field of vision. Or maybe it was just his eyes trying to make sense of the blood that blanketed the streets.

He never imagined that the Grand Magic Games could end so wrong, that the future could be this bad, that in the end, everything he and his friends strived to accomplish and to help others- that it wouldn't be enough. Oh how he wished, for once, to be as smart and less impulsive as the others.

Maybe then, they would have had a chance. Maybe if he weren't so obsessively daring and protective of those around him, just maybe- there could have been a chance for them to come out of this alive.

Dragons.

So many. And yet… he was virtually powerless.

He killed more of them then he could count, but they killed more mages than he could ever fathom to process. And in the end, once his strength was spent to a point that fire was no longer appetizing- he failed to save those he cared about most.

It didn't matter how strong they were- it _never_ mattered- not when beasts as strong as this existed. He sighed as tears welled up inside of his closed eyes.

_Igneel_. Where are you!? Why have you allowed this to happen? Father! Why have you abandoned me and doomed us all! _Why!_?

These dragons were as fierce as his father, but not nearly as kind. They were the beasts that strived to rid the world of humanity… and he was pretty sure that this time around they were going to succeed.

His fellow dragons slayers were some of the strongest against their endless assault, although slowly they too fell with hundreds- thousands- of people depending on each and every one of them to save them.

He was the last one left.

His body screamed against the paralytic exhaustion that had eaten up his entire being. His dislocated shoulder screamed in agony, as he attempted to get up once more for the thousandth time. Although, he couldn't help but shake the chill that had finally settled in and warned him that _this_ would be his last stand.

He counted twelve.

Twelve of them were in the immediate vicinity of the center of chaos that erupted. Out of the original thousand he managed to slay one hundred of them, with his fellow dragons slayers combined adding another hundred.

They were doomed.

Eight hundred more. There was no possible was to defeat that many. Not in the condition he was in now.

In his kneeling position, he was finally able to take in the scene around him.

A sea of bodies littered the ground, their blood staining the earth they lay on. Not a drop of life in the endless sea of red.

_Lucy. Erza. Gray. Wendy. Happy. Just gone… Gajeel was down. As well as Laxus. Not the mention the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. The master had died in the first assault, managing to kill a dragon by blocking its path that had surprised them all. _

He groaned and popped his shoulder back into place. His vision swam with black for a moment. He almost fell from his kneeling position into the crimson-stained rubble.

He didn't know what to think anymore, with everyone dead and just plain _gone_ from this cruel world that decided their luck had finally run out. Despite the effort it took he gripped a fistful of hair in frustration and screamed in despair.

He didn't have anyone left to protect.

That's what made him finally see red.

Struggling, he stood, albeit very slowly, to make his final stand worth something in this now worthless world.

That's when Natsu realized the only way to win was to throw aside his humanity.

_He_ would become the monster in order to protect everyone he couldn't, so that maybe those who were still counting on him could live out his legacy, could live in this cruel and unforgiving world.

He hoped they would live for what he and his friends' couldn't- that they would be the ones to accomplish the dreams his friends and he never reached. But _someone_ had to save them first.

_How many dragons did Acnologia have to kill in order to attain his dragon form?_

It didn't matter. He would do the same, but instead he would do it to protect those from dragons like Acnologia. Mustering his strength he set his body ablaze, the magic in the air causing scales to surface on his skin.

He didn't know if it was Dragon Force or his desperation, but with his flames as his guide, he attacked once more.

•••

Lucy groaned as her eyes fluttered open. At first, she thought they were still closed because of the blackened night. However, a single spark of flame in the night sky told her otherwise.

_What's happening?_

She slowly rose from her awkward position on the ground. Her head throbbed in time with her heartbeat as she strained to focus.

When her vision cleared she noticed that she was bathed in blood, but not from herself. The ground was literally soaked with the colour, making her shiver in fear.

She desperately looked around.

_Bodies… everywhere… where is everyone?_

A roar trembled through the air, shaking the foundations of the few structures that remained. She winced as the shockwave passed, and strained her sight into the sky to see the incoming dragon.

After a minute of darkness she gave up, and stood up against the wish of her trembling frame.

That's when she saw it.

His scarf.

She ran a few steps towards it before crashing down into the rubble below her as her knees gave out. Slowly she used her elbows to crawl slowly towards it.

_Natsu. Natsu! Where are you! Why would you leave your scarf!?_ Her mind screamed. She had no strength to say the words out load.

Desperately, she crawled, tearing the skin off the open flesh of her arms, wincing as the stray rocks, splinters and metal buried themselves one by one into her raw flesh.

Almost… there… she collapsed with exhaustion and pain as the scarf lay a simple arms length away. Reaching with all her might, her fingers brushed the edge as she desperately grasped it towards her. She clung to it as her last hope.

It was still warm.

Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them spill. The roar shook the earth once more, and the sky alighted at once in a fury of flame. She strained towards the flames, attempting to see what would most likely be her demise.

Despite the fury she held towards the creatures, she quietly admired to beauty of the flaming red dragon that lite up the sky like a star. Its wingspan spread across the starry night like a blanket, encompassing her into a dreamless sleep.

As her consciousness faded once more, she clutched the scarf to comfort herself.

The dragon roared once more and woke her from her reverie. She thought she heard some sort of pleading in its cry. As if. These were the dragons that wanted humanity extinct, not the type of dragons that cared for the dragon slayers.

She bit a gouge in her lip as she suppressed the oncoming sob. They were all doomed. It was scary to think how easily their life could be extinguished- like the flame of a candle; it was never safe in a breeze. Especially when that breeze turned out to be a dragon's fearsome roar or the gale created from a flap of their massive wings.

She waited with her eyes closed, awaited the pain that would follow as soon as a dragon struck the earth with it's sword-edged talons and terrible cry. She winced at the thought.

The light that suddenly came into existence was so bright she was blinded through her eyelids. The heat that followed scorched her skin as she silently curled herself in a ball. She opened her eyes.

An emerald green dragon above her was diving down.

This was it- her life was finally about to end.

That was until she realized the dragon was diving- it was _falling_. It struck the earth fifty feet from where she lay, sending tremors throughout the ground. Rubble shifted as a giant cloud of debree washed over her. She ducked, shielding herself as much as she could.

When silence finally took its hold once more, she opened her eyes to the dragon before her. Its emerald scales were stained with the crimson of blood; its eyes lifeless in a shell of the magnificent beast it used to be.

_It was dead. But how? Who could possibly still be fighting these monsters?_

She received her answer when a fireball of a dragon dived down to the ground, halting itself thirty feet in the air. The heat was so intense her eyes watered and her skin peeled, but her eyes were glued to the magnificent creature.

It was the same one she had seen before- with the ruby sinning scales. They somehow reflected the light that wasn't there and gave her non-existent hope. She wondered if her mind was creating an illusion she was so desperately hoping for. A dragon was fighting for them.

That's all she needed to know, illusion or not, before her body and mind finally gave out as her grip loosened on the scarf.

It had grown cold.

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**R&R if you so please, goodbye for now. One more thing, unless I get requests don't expect regular updates. Maybe I'll do that sometime in the future.  
Pneumonia**


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